Faculty Director: Public Health Microbiology LABORATORY
Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah, PhD, MS, MPH, MACE, CFS, CPH - Yale School of Public Health Alumnus
Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah is a graduate of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Master’s and Food Microbiology Doctoral programs of Colorado State University (CSU). He holds a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics and Data Analysis from CSU’s Statistics Department and completed his training in the Public Health Department of Yale University in the Advanced Professional MPH program (AP MPH), tracked in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology, a Graduate Certification in Food and Drug Regulatory Affairs, and a Certificate in Climate Change and Human Health. He has been a member of an authors’ team of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, conference proceedings, newsletters, and popular-press articles. He is currently serving as the faculty director of Public Health Microbiology laboratory in Nashville, where his program has been extramurally funded by federal and private industry agencies and provided education opportunities for undergraduate, MS, Ph.D., and post-doctoral students/fellows. He has served as president of Rocky Mountain (Colorado) and Volunteer (Tennessee) sections of IFT and as exam item writer and reviewer for both certified food scientists and certified in public health national examinations and as instructor of public health workshops and outreach events in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Lebanon, and South Africa. He is currently serving as the Co-Chair of Health and Medical Sciences division of Tennessee Academy of Science, as Section Councilor (Food and Nutrition section) of American Public Health Association, and as Regional Director (TN, KY, VW) of Yale Alumni Association.
Sadiye Aras, PhD, MS, PC QI
Sadiye Aras, PhD (BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, CONC. PUBLIC HEALTH MICROBIOLOGY AND FOOD SAFETY)
Sadiye Aras is a PhD candidate in Public Health Microbiology and currently works with biofilm and planktonic pathogens of public health concern and spore-forming bacteria to assure prevention of these infectious diseases in the community. She is specifically utilizing novel and traditional bacteriocin and bactericidal compounds such as nisin and thymol in combination with emerging technologies such as high-pressure processing for the prevention of bacterial infections. D. Aras doctoral research is funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Pressure BioScience Inc in Boston and her work has recently been published in IJERPH (IF=2.46). Ms. Aras is Preventive Control Qualified Individual (PC QI) based on her recent certification in Food Safety Modernization Act, Preventive Control for Human Foods (FSPCA Certification # 408372f5) and is the second place-awardee in 2019 Oral Competition of Tennessee Academy of Science, in Health and Medical Sciences Division. She hopes to further her career in academia and food industry to help save lives by limiting the public health burden of foodborne diseases and assure safety and security of food and water supplies.
Dissertation:
Biofilm Formation and Pressure-based Pasteurization of Bacterial Spores and Foodborne Pathogens of Public Health Concern as Affected by Bacteriocin and Bactericidal Compounds.
Recent Publications:
Aras, S.; Kabir, N.; Wadood, S.; George, J.; Chowdhury, S.; Fouladkhah*, A.C. Synergistic Effects of Nisin, Lysozyme, Lactic Acid, and CitricidalTM for Enhancing Pressure-Based Inactivation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Geobacillus stearothermophilus, and Bacillus atrophaeus Endospores. Microorganisms 2021, 9, 653.
Kabir, N., Aras, S., George, J., Wadood, S., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. High-pressure and thermal-assisted pasteurization of habituated, wild-type, and pressure-stressed Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, and Staphylococcus aureus. LWT- Food Science and Technology, 2021, 137: 110445.
Aras, S., Kabir, N., Allison, A., George, J., Fouladkhah*, A. Inactivation of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157: H7 and mesophilic background microbiota of meat homogenate using elevated hydrostatic pressure, mild heat, and thymol. Journal of Food Science, Food Engineering, Materials Science, and Nanotechnology, JFS 2020, 85(12): 4335-4341.
George, J. Aras, S., Kabir, N., Wadood, S., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. Sensitivity of Planktonic Cells of Staphylococcus aureus to Elevated Hydrostatic Pressure as Affected by Mild Heat, Carvacrol, Nisin, and Caprylic Acid. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(19): 7033. Impact factor (2019-2020): 2.849.
Kabir, M.N., Aras, S., Wadood, S., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. Fate and Biofilm Formation of Wild-Type and Pressure-Stressed Pathogens of Public Health Concern in Surface Water and on Abiotic Surfaces. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 408. Impact factor (2018-2019): 4.167
Aras, S., Kabir, M.N., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. Augmenting the Pressure-Based Pasteurization of Listeria monocytogenes by Synergism with Nisin and Mild Heat. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 563. Impact factor (2018-2019): 2.469
Kabir, M.N., Aras, S., Allison, A., Adhikari, J., Chowdhury, S., and Fouladkhah*, A., 2019. Interactions of Carvacrol, Caprylic Acid, Habituation, and Mild Heat for Pressure-Based Inactivation of O157 and Non-O157 Serogroups of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Acidic Environment. Microorganisms, 7(5), p.145. Impact factor (2018-2019): 4.167
Recent Award:
1st Place (tied), Health & Medical Sciences Section, Poster Competitions. 131st Meeting of the Tennessee Academy of Science, Health and Medical Sciences Section. Hosted by Tennessee Technological University. November 6, 2021, Cookeville, TN. Student: S. Aras.
2nd Place, Oral Competitions, Health and Medical Sciences section. 2019 Tennessee Academy of Sciences. The 129th annual meeting, Columbia State Community College. Columbia. S. Aras. Nov 22, 2019
Dr. Md Niamul Kabir, PhD, Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Dr. Niamul Kabir, Public Health Microbiology Laboratory
2019-2021 Post- Doctoral Fellow, Public Health Microbiology Laboratory
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Albany State University
Md Niamul Kabir is a Postdoctoral research associates of Public Health Food Microbiology Laboratory of Tennessee State University. He has completed his PhD in Biological Sciences (Soil-borne Pathogen Based Microbiology), Masters in Agricultural Sciences (Molecular Microbiology Based Plant Pathology), and Graduate Certificate in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from Tennessee State University. He received his another Masters in Plant Tissue Culture based on Plant Breeding and Biotechnology from Dhaka University, Bangladesh. As a diverse academic background he also hold Master’s in Business Administration (major in Human Resource and Finance) from Asia Pacific University. He is a member of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), American Phytopathological Society (APS) and American Society of Microbiology (ASM). He has been authored and co-authored several peer reviewed publications, conference proceedings and extension publications. He believes that everything is possible by strong willingness, mentality to work hard, patience to reach the goal and the honesty. He wants to utilize his expertise in the development of diagnostic and effective disease management systems in food safety to reduce the overall production cost in agricultural sciences.
Recent Publications:
Kabir, M.N.; Aras, S.; Wadood, S.; Chowdhury, S.; Fouladkhah*, A. Fate and Biofilm Formation of Wild-Type and Pressure-Stressed Pathogens of Public Health Concern in Surface Water and on Abiotic Surfaces. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 408. Impact factor (2018-2019): 4.167
Aras, S.; Kabir, M.N.; Chowdhury, S.; Fouladkhah*, A. Augmenting the Pressure-Based Pasteurization of Listeria monocytogenes by Synergism with Nisin and Mild Heat. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 563. Impact factor (2018-2019): 2.469
Kabir, M.N., Aras, S., Allison, A., Adhikari, J., Chowdhury, S. and Fouladkhah*, A., 2019. Interactions of Carvacrol, Caprylic Acid, Habituation, and Mild Heat for Pressure-Based Inactivation of O157 and Non-O157 Serogroups of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Acidic Environment. Microorganisms, 7(5), p.145. Impact factor (2018-2019): 4.167
Dr. Abimbola Allison, PhD Graduate
Abimbola Allison, PhD (Biological Sciences, conc. Public Health Microbiology and Food Safety)
Current Position: Faculty Member (Instructor), TSU Department of Biological Sciences
Dissertation:
Inactivation of Wild-type, Rifampicin-resistant, and Pressure-adopted Foodborne Bacteria of Public Health Concern and Microbial Spores using Elevated Hydrostatic Pressure. (Adviser/degree chair: A. Fouladkhah).
Recent Publications:
Allison, A., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. Synergism of Mild Heat and High-Pressure Pasteurization against Listeria monocytogenes and Natural Microflora in Phosphate-Buffered Saline and Raw Milk. Microorganisms 2018, 6(4), 102. Impact factor (2018-2019): 4.167
Allison, A., Fouladkhah*, A. Sensitivity of SalmonellaSerovars and Natural Microflora to High Pressure Pasteurization: Open Access Data for Practitioners and Risk Assessment. Data in Brief (Elsevier) 2018, 21:480–484.
Allison, A., Daniels, E., Chowdhury, S., Fouladkhah*, A. Effects of Elevated Hydrostatic Pressure against Mesophilic Background Microflora and Habituated Salmonella Serovars in Orange Juice. Microorganisms2018, 6(1), 23. Impact factor(2018-2019): 4.167
Allison, A., Fouladkhah*, A. Adoptable Interventions, Human Health, and Food Safety Considerations for Reducing Sodium Content of Processed Food Products. Foods (Basel, Switzerland) 2018 7(2), 16. Impact factor(2018-2019): 3.011
Recent Awards:
-1st Place, Oral Competitions, Health and Medical Sciences section. 2019 Tennessee Academy of Sciences. The 129th annual meeting, Columbia State Community College. Columbia, TN. Student: A. Allison. Nov 22, 2019
-2nd Place, Oral Graduate Competitions, 2019 Annual State-wide Competition for Food Safety Modernization Act, Food Safety, and Food Science Students. Tennessee (Volunteer) section Institute of Food Technologists. Student: A. Allison
-2nd Place, Oral Competitions, Health and Medical Sciences section. 2018 Tennessee Academy of Sciences. The 128th annual meeting, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN. Student: A. Allison. Nov 17, 2018
-2018-2019 Foundation/Food and Product Safety (FMI) Scholarship ($3,000). Student: A. Allison. Sep 2018
-2018 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Feeding Tomorrow Graduate Scholarship. Extension and Outreach Division. Student: A. Allison. May 2018
-2018 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Graduate Scholarship. 2018 Annual Conference of IAFP. Student: A. Allison. April 2018
-2017-2018 Outstanding PhD Student of College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Sciences, Tennessee State University (Selected after peer-review by college faculty and NIFA judges, among approximately 34 PhD students/candidates in the college). Student: A. Allison, PhD candidate. Apr 28 2017
-2017 Institute of Food Technologists Feeding Tomorrow Scholarship, Food Laws & Regulation Divisions Graduate Scholarship. (Sole recipient of the award in the division among more than 500 national and international applicants). Student: A. Allison, PhD candidate. Apr 26 2017